CCCoooveredveredvered GGlloryory Glory __________________________________________________ ST 1 CORINTHIANS 11 & THE CHRISTIAN USE OF HEADCOVERINGS ________________________ DAVID PHILLIPS Available Online At bitly.com/CoveredGlory Revision 03.08.15 CCOVEREDOVERED GGLORYLORY 1ST CORINTHIANS 11 & THE CHRISTIAN USE OF HEADCOVERINGS CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION 1. HEADCOVERINGS IN SCRIPTURE . 1 2. WHAT IS THE “HEADCOVERING”? . 3 3. NATURAL HAIR LENGTH: CULTURAL OR UNIVERSAL? . 8 ST 4. HEADCOVERINGS IN 1 CENTURY CULTURE . 9 5. SCRIPTURE'S REASONS FOR THE HEADCOVERING . 10 6. CHRISTIAN HEADCOVERINGS FOR TODAY? . 21 A. APPENDIX: HEADCOVERING THROUGHOUT CHRISTIAN HISTORY . 34 B. APPENDIX: KEY TERMS & PHRASES . 55 ST C. APPENDIX: FURTHER DETAILS ON 1 CENTURY CULTURE . 67 COPYRIGHT 2011-2014 PERMISSION FOR COPYING IS FREELY PROVIDED UNDER THE “CREATIVE COMMONS / ATTRIBUTION 3.0 LICENSE” All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org) Used by permission. Scripture identified as “NIV” is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Covered Glory iii Ω PREFACE The Apostle Paul: “I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head... For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man... Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head.” st 1 Corinthians 11 In this passage of Scripture, Paul teaches us about the relationships between people and the Lord, the act of prayer, the glory of God, and... having a covered head?! I remember how odd these instructions seemed when I first read them in my Bible. Like many Christians today, I was not very familiar with this passage and I felt personally unconnected to the practice Paul was describing. While I believed that God's Word is authoritative in directing Christians how to live, I wasn't sure how to respond to this direction. Since the use of headcoverings is not a foundational part of Christianity, for a long time I left the passage alone until I could take a closer look at it. In the meantime, I tentatively concluded that the use of headcoverings was probably just an ancient cultural practice that God was re-enforcing for the church in Corinth. However, if using a headcovering was still required by the Lord for Christian women today, I figured that a lady's long hair probably qualified as an adequate “cover.” Eventually I devoted some time to study this topic. Since the Lord calls the husband to love and lead his wife (Ephesians 5:23), I felt that a small part of fulfilling my role was to gain some clarity about God's teaching in this passage. I also happened to know a few ladies who wore headcoverings in response to this passage, and my interest was further piqued when I realized that Christian men often follow Paul's instruction to uncover their heads when they pray. This subject challenged me to study Scripture carefully, learn more about Christian history, look into First Century culture, read from a very wide variety of Bible teachers and theologians, and consider the relevant Scriptural passages in their original languages. Of course, the primary reason believers should devote time to studying Scripture is to be able to learn from God, grow in their relationship with Him, and obediently follow His direction. Towards that end, I hope that this study will help provide a well-grounded understanding of the direction He gives within 1st Corinthians 11:2-16. As you read it, I would be interested in hearing from you ~ David Phillips [email protected] Covered Glory iv Ω INTRODUCTION Today, the use of religious headcoverings is often associated with Catholic nuns, Muslim ladies, and women living in Amish communities. Historically, though, headcoverings were regularly used by Christian women before each of these groups came into existence. This was more than just a practice of the ancient Corinthian church. Interestingly, up until just the last century, it had been the norm within Christianity for Christian women to wear a headcovering during times of prayer.1 So what changed? Today, many Christians are not even aware that the use of headcoverings is taught in the New Testament. And when believers in Western culture ponder the Apostle Paul's directions on the matter, they often come up with a wide variety of perspectives about the passage.2 While 1st Corinthians 11:2-16 reads fairly quickly and its meaning was probably quite plain to the Corinthian believers that Paul wrote to, Christians today are often bewildered when reading the passage. Often, a slow and careful look at these 15 verses is needed in order to draw conclusions about what the passage teaches. This study seeks to provide that slow and careful look. To do so, we will pursue four main topics: (1) an overview of the New Testament direction for the use of headcoverings, (2) a discussion of First Century cultures in the area of Corinth and their potential impact on the passage, (3) a thoughtful consideration for how a Christian should respond to the passage nowadays, and (4) a review of the use of headcoverings throughout Christian history. Covered Glory is designed to be as quick and easy to read as possible. The essential discussion (and conclusions) are contained within the first half of the study. Each section is fairly concise and the reader is occasionally referred to the Appendices for further details and background information. The first half of 1st Corinthians 11 discusses the use of headcoverings, while the second half focuses on the Lord's Supper. While much as been written about the second half of the chapter, there is a general lack of thorough, well-documented resources that examine the first half. My hope is that this study will introduce readers to an insightful, and often-skipped, section of Holy Scripture. Additional Notes About This Study • All Scripture references that do not specify a book or chapter refer to 1st Corinthians 11. • Those reading the electronic version of this study can access additional information by clicking on any text that appears in blue. 1 This is well-documented in Church history. An overview of Christianity's use of headcoverings begins on page 34. It covers various cultures and locations, from the time of the Early Church to the present day. 2 Unfortunately, some contemporary Bible “scholars” intentionally ignore the passage, while others say that Paul's message is illogical. A few even state that the passage could not have been inspired by God. Covered Glory – Introduction v Common Terms and Abbreviations1 Corinth: At the time that Paul wrote to the Corinthians (around 53-58 AD), Corinth was a major seaport city (population 400,000-600,000) and the capital of its region in southern Greece. It had been destroyed in 146 BC and a century later was rebuilt by Julius Caeser as a Roman colony.2 In Acts 18, Paul devoted 1½ years to ministering in Corinth. Later, he wrote a letter (now called “1st Corinthians”) to the church while he was living 180 miles away in Ephesus.3 Gentile: A non-Jewish person. The city of Corinth was populated mostly by Gentiles. Early Church: Christianity as it existed in the first few centuries after the death of Christ. Koiné Greek: A dialect of the Greek language that was spoken from about 330BC (after “Ancient Greek”) to about 330AD (before “Medieval Greek”). Because of the conquests of Alexander the Great, it became the universal language of the Greek and Roman Empires. Koiné means “common.” It is the language that the New Testament was originally written in. Hebrew: The language of Israel, and the original language of most of the Old Testament. Septuagint: A Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, written 200-300 years before Christ was born. It is often abbreviated “LXX .”4 Starting in the 2nd century BC, most Jews in Israel spoke Greek as their primary language, thus the need for a Greek translation of the Old Testament. The New Testament authors and other early Christians used the Septuagint. Lexicon: A dictionary of foreign words with definitions provided in the reader's native language. Abbreviations cf. confer (“cf. John 3:16”) LXX Septuagint (“Proverbs 1:1 LXX”) ff and following (“John 3:16ff”) v. verse (“v.16”) 1 Apart from the definitions on this page, Appendix B discusses a number of key terms used in this study. 2 As a result of this, the public buildings were an Italian style (not Greek) and the official language was Latin (though both Greek and Latin were used for business and in public life). The city was settled by retired Roman soldiers, and Roman influence extended to the city's politics, currency, courts, inscriptions, and pictures of the emperor. The Philippian church was similarly located in a Roman colony (Acts 16:12). Cf. page 75ff; David Gill, In Search Of The Social Elite In The Corinthian Church (Tyndale Bulletin 44:2, 1993), 327-328; Elizabeth A. McCabe, Women in the Biblical World, Vol. 2 (University Press of America, 2011), 71; Craig S. Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives (Baker Books, 1992), 28; Mark Harding & Alanna Nobbs, All Things to All Cultures: Paul Among Jews, Greeks, and Romans (Eerdmans Publishing, 2013), 78; Edward Adams & David Horrell, Christianity at Corinth (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 2ff.